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Working with Jund – The Sideboard

I’ve never been a fan of sideboard guides. Usually, the writer uses the sideboard from their most recent event and gives a list of what should come in and out. I don’t know what event you will be playing in next, and I don’t know how long from now it will be. Humans might be a huge deck for the tournament next week, but a strong showing will make it a worse choice for the following few weeks. You’ll need to decide what to focus on for sideboard cards.Instead of a sideboard guide, I’m going to go over which cards are bad in a stock Jund list against several popular decks. I’ll leave it to you to decide what you want to prepare for.

Jund

Most games, Jund mirrors are all about grinding out card advantage. Using Lilianas, Kolaghan’s Commands, and Dark Confidants to trade for more than one card from the opponent is the name of the game. There are some exceptions, particularly discard into a Tarmogoyf or two. Those games can just snowball into a quick win, so it’s impossible to just ignore combat. That means that Jund really doesn’t change the game plan after game one.

Maelstrom Pulse is a little risky, since you can lose your own permanents too. Realistically, you can play around that downside without much work.

Some people have suggested boarding out a Dark Confidant on the draw. I don’t think I’m a fan, even if Liliana, the Last Hope increases the number of ways to kill it. Dark Confidant should just run away with the game if it sticks around, so I’m still keeping in the full set.

Excellent sideboard options

Humans

You need to kill lots of things against Humans, so removal spells are a priority. Having a good mix of removal spells is important, since Meddling Mage can decimate your hand otherwise. The cheaper removal is better, since both Champion of the Parish and Noble Hierarch are extremely dangerous. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben can quickly start to tax your mana, making the expensive cards even harder to cast.

Boarding

High priority to remove

Medium priority to remove

Low priority to remove

Hand disruption is pretty awful against Affinity. The best affinity hands result in an empty hand within the first couple turns, making hand disruption awful. On the play, you can still do some work. Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is the only potential sideboard card that Thoughtseize could hit, and the life loss is significant. Thoughtseize has to go. Inquisition of Kozilek is less awful, but not much. If you don’t have sufficient answers to Etched Champion, you might need to keep some hand disruption and hope to get lucky.

Liliana of the Veil is also pretty bad, but it is the only answer to a resolved Etched Champion. I always board out some number of copies, but it is difficult to have enough sideboard cards to remove everything that needs to come out.

Excellent sideboard options

Death’s Shadow

Most versions of Death’s Shadow play out similarly to the mirror. Hand disruption stripping both player’s hands is common, and that leads to grindy games. Jund has better cards for a grindy game, but Death’s Shadow runs less lands meaning they will draw more spells over the course of a game. Death’s Shadow can also just steal a game with a quick, giant Death’s Shadow. Be careful about early aggression as the Jund player.

Boarding

High priority to remove

Medium priority to remove

Low priority to remove

Like Jund, Lightning Bolt has very few targets. I would always board them out for game two. If the opponent is reckless with their life total, I might board one or two back in for game three. That will really just depend on how many cards are waiting in the sideboard to bring in.

Excellent sideboard options

Burn

Burn used to be a horrific matchup for Jund. Particularly in the era without Bloodbraid Elf, applying enough pressure to kill before Burn assembled lethal damage was nearly impossible. Collective Brutality has helped a lot. Burn earning a place as a respected Modern deck has also helped, since players are more likely to bring actual hate cards.

Boarding

High priority to remove

Medium priority to remove

Low priority to remove

Thoughtseize is pretty close to a free card for Burn, so it absolutely has to go. Liliana, the Last Hope can’t kill any of Burn’s creatures except for the occasional Grim Lavamancer, so it needs to go. Dark Confidant is pretty subpar, so it needs to hit the bench too. I can imagine leaving some in, but it’s probably too risky.

Maelstrom Pulse and Kolaghan’s Command are both pretty slow. Burn doesn’t play creatures that cost more than two, so these removal spells will always be a loss of tempo. Liliana of the Veil is similar, but she is a little better. She can be a proactive removal spell for Eidolon of the Great Revel to avoid taking some damage. On the play, she can also come down early enough to eat a few burn spells out of the opponent’s hand. Be conservative if you are using the discard ability on Liliana. You likely need most of your spells and lands to deploy fast enough. Be sure to track how many lands the opponent is playing. If you get a read that they have more in their hand, you might want to avoid using Liliana for a turn.

Excellent sideboard options

Hollow One

You can’t do a whole lot against this deck’s nut draw, but that’s true for everybody. Hand disruption on the first turn can often neuter their hand, so you’re banking on that. Most of your removal doesn’t line up well here, particularly the cheap stuff. You mostly want to make room for whatever graveyard hate you have. A small amount of artifact destruction is good too, since nutty Hollow One openings are the biggest danger here. Ancient Grudge is particularly strong, since it is resilient to Burning Inquiry and Goblin Lore.

Excellent sideboard options

Tron

This matchup is pretty awful, and there isn’t much you can do about it. You have fairly even odds to disrupt whatever their first big spell is, either through Thoughtseizing it or disrupting their development. Unfortunately, they usually find something else before you can finish the game. Jund traditionally has a ton of bad cards in the matchup, and it is difficult to fix all the problems in sideboarding.

A realistic plan for Tron is to avoid sideboard cards for it and hope to just dodge the paring. If you expect a lot of Tron at your tournament, Jund is not the right deck.

Excellent sideboard options

U/W Control

Prepare for some long games against control. It is safe to assume you can’t punch a hole with hand disruption long enough to steal a fast win. With that assumption, you should focus on taking the most impactful cards with hand disruption instead of using it to force through threats. Planeswalkers, Cryptic Command, and Search for Azcanta need to go if possible.

Excellent sideboard options

U/R Storm

Storm should be a fairly good matchup for Jund. Hand disruption should slow them down a turn or two, and Jund has a fast enough clock to capitalize on that. Be sure to kill Goblin Electromancer or Baral, Chief of Compliance if they come down on turn two. Liliana of the Veil is great, but they can still win with Past in Flames. Don’t rely solely on her to win the game, you need a creature dealing damage early on.

Excellent sideboard options

That covers several of the most popular decks in Modern. If you have questions about a specific matchup, feel free to leave me a comment or find me on Twitter. If you disagree with any of my assessments, I’d also like to hear about it. Happy cascading!